Thursday, June 23, 2011

Hey everyone! I'm Delilah, one of Danielle's good friends, and NOW a new admin to this blog :D
I don't know how many Harry Potter fans we have out there, but I know Dani and I are HUGE fans. So, I just wanted to share new information about J.K. Rowling's 'Pottermore' Project: Pottermore is a free, collaborative website that will offer new material about Harry Potter and exclusive access to Harry Potter e-books.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Alright, so I'm currently reading City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare and I have to say, though I never particualrly liked Simon all that much, he is pretty funny. The first few pages had me laughing like an idiot. Perhaps it was the lateness of the night, but here are some lines my friend and I thought were laugh worthy:

"Vampires have no business teaching children. Vampires are terrifying."

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Thanks to modern science, every human being has become a ticking genetic time bomb — males only live to age twenty-five, and females only live to age twenty. In this bleak landscape, young girls are kidnapped and forced into polygamous marriages to keep the population from dying out.

When sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery is taken by the Gatherers to become a bride, she enters a world of wealth and privilege. Despite her husband Linden's genuine love for her, and a tenuous trust among her sister wives, Rhine has one purpose: to escape — to find her twin brother and go home.

But Rhine has more to contend with than losing her freedom. Linden's eccentric father is bent on finding an antidote to the genetic virus that is getting closer to taking his son, even if it means collecting corpses in order to test his experiments. With the help of Gabriel, a servant Rhine is growing dangerously attracted to, Rhine attempts to break free, in the limited time she has left."

My Thoughts:

This was such a beautiful, yet horrific book. Rhine was the ideal main character. She was extremely courageous to be able to endure what she had to go through. Rhine didn't just sit around and mope about how sorry her life was, similar to her sisterwive Jenna. No, she didn't let herself give in the the idea that this is what her life would be from now on and that there was nothing she could do about it. She WORKED for her freedom. She put on a show, making everyone believe she was okay with this new way of life while in reality, she was working on a way out.
Naturally, there was a love triangle. Now I know lots of people are sick of them, but I believe this wasn't like any other love triangle. Linden and Gabriel both love Rhine. But Rhine only loves Gabriel--so it seems. I personally preferred Gabriel. Not because I thought Linden was a jerk, because he really wasn't. At first, I was inclined to hate Linden. Who wouldn't hate a man who kidnapped young girls, made them travel in a fashion similar to those of the Holocaust victims, practiced polygamy and got girls pregnant at 13? But as it turns out, he really didn't know about the kidnapping and such. Now, I still didn't like the whole multiple wives, and pregnancy thing, but what can you do? He treated his wives gently, and I feel as though he did feel SOMETHING for them. It was his father who was the problem. So desperate to find a cure for the disease (it made women die at age 20 and men at 25), he did anything he could. Even experimenting on Linden's wives. Which I believe was the reason he had so many. I was quite happy when Rhine and Gabriel got away at the end, and am looking forward to the next installment of the Chemical Garden

Imagine you wake up and the world around you-life as you know it-has changed in an instant. That's what has happened to Whit Allgood and his sister, Whisty. They went to sleep as normal teenagers, and woke up as wanted criminals. Accused of holding incredible powers they'd never dreamed possible. And now, just how different they are-special, even-if just beginning to be revealed in a strange new world.

It begins...now."

My Thoughts:

It's not as amazing as I thought it would be. Honestly, I sort of expected a little better, mainly because I LOVE Patterson's Maximum Ride series, but it's not completely horrible either. It definitely didn't live up to "becoming the next Harry POtter'. Whoever said that had obviously never read either of these books because if they had, they would realize the series are completely different.
The main characters, Wisty and Whit Algood were, how should I put this, um not very interesting. Their situation has been seriously overplayed. How many times have you read a book were the kids aren't aware that they are some form of magical being until something bad happens? I really couldn't see how, even though their parents never told them, they never noticed they were different. I don't see how all of a sudden their powers appear. And really, it doesn't seem to take Wisty too long to figure out how to use them either. Just some parts of this book are alittle off.
The plot wasn't so bad either. It was easy to connect "the One Who is the One" with real life dictators. In some ways, it kind of reminded me of the Holocaust. (Hope that doesn't offend anyone) If you think about it, the One who is the One was trying to build a society in his own perfect image, and was willing to do whatever he had to to see it through. Hitler did the same thing with the people who didn't fit his own "perfect image". Children & others accused of witchery were being taken away from their homes, and sent to concentration camp like places. They were horribly mistreated and eventually, vaporized.
I believe that they tried too hard to make it as big as HP and therefore, it kind of self-destructed. However, it's not the worst book in the world, but if someone I knew were to read it, I'd tell them not to get their hopes up. But that's only my opinion, others may love it.

"Laurel hasn't seen Tamani since she begged him to let her go last year. Though her heart still aches, Laurel is confident that David was the right choice.But just as life is returning to normal, Laurel discovers that a hidden enemy lies in wait. Once again, Laurel must turn to Tamani to protect and guide her, for the danger that now threatens Avalon is one that no faerie thought would ever be possible. And for the first time, Laurel cannot be sure that her side will prevail."

My Thoughts: I absolutely LOVED this book! I think it was the best in the series so far. It was a pretty amusing read, I actually found myself laughing throughout the entire book.
However, I just got to put it out there: I don't like Tamani. I really don't. He irritated me trhoughout the whole book. Though I have to say, I wasn't particularly fond of Laurel at times either. I loved Laurel and David together. Tamani was always in the way causing tension in their relataionship. What I don't understand is when Laurel breaks up with David after his fight with Tamani because he's "immature" and too jealous, why does she give him such a hard time but then goes on to make out with Tamani in the cabin? I think she was being hypocritical there. ANd it was just as much her fault as theirs. If she didn't love David the way she thought she did, then I understand. She was practically drooling over Tamani the whole time she was with David, which I found wrong. But quite frankly, she doesn't know what seh wants. When she's with David, she thinks about Tamani, and vice versa. And honestly, if Chelsea wants to be with David, she should let her because Laurel has messed with his heart too much, and if Chelsea could make him happy, then she should let it be. It's not fair to isolate him from a potentially successful relationship because she's too selfish to let go. So, there's the romance part of the story. Sorry, the whole thing frustrated me lol
The plot was never dull and kept you wondering what was going to happen next. I was so surprised at the end and am DYING for the next book. The way they left it was just :O (<---shocking). I feel that Yuki is just a pawn in this whole thing and doesn't really have a clue as to what's going on. The whole innocent act could just be that, an act, but I don't know, she seems sincere to me. I think her capture by Shar at the end was completely unnecessary and just down right cruel. I loved how David refused to help when Shar asked him to cut open her dress. It shows how against all this he is, but was really surprised when Chelsea seemed okay with it all. Haha, I also remember when they first tied her up and said they were wearing night goggles, i couldn't help but wonder, 'Where did they get night vision goggles from?' I told my friend this and she laughed asking how out of everything on the page, that is what bothered me the most xD
But anyway, this book was really great. If you haven't read any of the other books, you so should.